Service switch



Patented May30, 1922.

s SHEETSSHEET 1."

III 4% a J. A. JESSEN. SERVICE SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-6,1917.

Patented May 30,192..

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

nnnullnnni mama J. A. JESSEN. SERVICE SWITCH.

f APPLICATION man NOV-6; 1912-1" l,4- 17,92O, p Patented May 30, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET a. 7Y7 I I T all whom it may concern:

UNITED-STATES PATENT orrice.

.fomv A. J'ESSEN, or WINTHROCP, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To THE PALMER ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A core IORATION OF Lame-2o.

Be it known that I, JOHN A. JEssEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winthrop,in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Service Switches,

, of which the following is a specification.

- This invent1on relates to service switches of the general character of that set forth in my previous Letters Patent N0.'1,209,415,' dated December" 19, 1916, and has for 1ts.

object to provide certain improvements therein which are hereinafter described.

According to my present invention, the switch is enclosed in a metal case and is designed for manual operation without opening thercase, the construction and arrangement of parts being such that, when the case is-opened, the terminals are dead, thereby the. case may be.

is closed.

'opening in the front of the case and a sliding door is therefore associated with the opening and is so related to the oscil'latable member by means of interlocking mechanism that said member cannot be moved to close the switch while the door is open, and

the door cannot be opened while the switch There are parallel barriers so arranged in reference to the door-closed opening and the stationary contact members that, when the door isropen, they wholly cut off access to the live or current-carrying parts in the case. These barriers divide the.chamber in the case into a central portion in which the fuses are located and "where they are accessible through the opening in the front wall or cover of the case, and side portions in which are located the live or current-carrying parts, but which are inaccessible Specification of Letters Patent.

, SERVICE SWITCH.

through said opening by reason of the interposition of the barriers. J

On the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents in front elevation a. service switch embodying the invention, the front wall of the case 'beingnioved to expose the interior mechanism. In this figure, theswitch is shown as open.

Figure 2 shows the position of the toggle mechanism when the switch is closed.

Figure 3 represents a section" on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 represents a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.- A

Figure 5 illustrates the case in front elevation with the door closed.

Figure 6 illustrates the slide and its actuating mechanism together with the associated parts, all of which are bodily removable as a unit from the case.

Figure 7 illustrates the position of the handle when the switch is closed and shows in dotted lines the parts for holding the door against movement at this time;

Figure 8 illustrates the bottom of the case" a Patented May 30, 1922, I, s Application filed November 6, 1917. Serial No. 200,591.

as though the switch were laid upon a table and not affixed to a vertical wall. In the description, however, the parts will be referred to as though the case were aflixed to bottom and the like are employed. I

The switch is located within a case which is preferably of metal and which may be of any suitable shape or design. As illustrated, the case is rectangular andit consists of sheet metal shaped and bent to provide a rear wall 10, top and bottom walls 11, 12, and side walls 13, 14. The top, bot-tom and side Walls-may be provided with the usual knockout plugs which may be removed to permit electrical conductors to be passed into the'case from any direction, but such construction is so common that I have not illustrated the removable plugs. The cover of the case is illustrated at 15 and it has marginal flanges 16 which overlap the top, bottom and side walls of the case. Any suitable means for securing thevcover in position may be utilized. For example, I have illustrated the top wall 11 a vertical wall, and it is with this understanding that the terms front, rear, top,

as being provided with pins or projections 31 which has flanges Underwriters.

. secured. stationary members 17, 17. to extend through complemental apertures in the top flange 'of the cover, as shown in Figure 3. The bottom wall 12 of the case is provided with a lug 18 to extend through a slot in the front of the cover near its lower edge. The lug 18 has an aperture 19 to receive a seal or padlock or other locking device20. The details of construction of the case and its cover are not essential or material. it being only necessary toprovidea sufficiently strong closed metal'case so as to meet the requirements of the National Board of Fire The cover, as shown in Figure 5, is provided with an opening 21 which is shown as rectangular and which is adequate in dimensions to permit access to the fuses. Associated with this opening is a sliding door 22. The door is arranged to slide in guideways 23. 24, and its movement in opposite directions is limited by a projecting knob 25 which occupies semicircular recesses 125, in the side walls of the opening when the 'door is at one or the other extremity of its movement. The interlocking mechanism, by which the switch is locked in an open position when the door is open and the door is locked in a'closed position when the switch is closed, will be subsequently described.

The switch mechanism will now be explained. As illustrated, it consists of a base plate 26 which is securedby suitable fastenings to the back wall 10 of the case, so that it. together with the parts that are mounted thereon, may be removed bodily from the case on removing the fastenings which hold said plate in place.- Upon the plate are secured two parallel strips or bars 27, 28, of slate, fiber or other insulating material upon which the respective pairs of stationary contact. members are mounted or Any suitable number of pairs of may .be used, although I have illustrated three pairs, the two members of each pair (being indicated at 29 and 30. These stationary contacts are of the spring clip variety to receive a knife member between the spring jaws thereof. Upolv the plate 26 there is located a sliding plate 32. 33. at its ends. These flanges are aperturd to receive parallel guide bars 34. 35, the lower ends of which are set in an up-turned flange 36, at the end of the plate 26. Upon the sliding plate 131 there is affixed a block/38 of insulating material. see F igure's .3 and 4, upon which are secured the movable switch members or terminals in pairs equal in numher to the pairs of stationary switch members. The members of each movable pair are indicated at 39and 40. and they are of the knife type so as to enter the spring jaws of the stationary members; Each of the movable members is provided with spring clips 41 to receive a fuse of which oneis illustrated in Figure 1 at 42. Of course any suitable fuses may be employed and the movable switch members will be adapted to receive thesame so as to permit their removal and replacement when desired. In Figure 1, the slide, comprising the plate 31 and the. block 38, is in its inactive or open position with the movable switch members disengaged and remote from the stationary members. The slide is moved by a toggle which comprises the two members 43, 44. The member 43 consists of a bifurcated arm projecting radially from the shaft 45 and it is pivoted by a screw pin P146 to the member 44 which is pivoted by a screw pin 147 to the sliding plate 31, as best shown in Figure 6. The member 44 is curved. as shown. to permit the oscillatory member or rock shaft 45 to be-swung through an arc a little greater than 180 from the position shown in Figure l to the position shown in Figure 2. In these two figures, it will be seen that the two members occupy approximately deadcenter positions so that the slide is locked by the toggle mechanism in its open or closed positions as the case may be. To limit the opening movement, the member 44 has a lug.or stop 46 adapted to engage the side edge of the member 43. I employ helical compression springs 47 stning upon the guide bars 34, 35, to assist in opening the slide and the switch when the toggle members havefbeen moved from their deadcenter position by a partial rotation of the. shaft 45. The shaft 45 projects through the cover, as shown in Figure 3. and upon its projecting end there is a handle consisting of a crank arm 48 and a knob 49.. By means of this crank handle. the shaft may be oscillated in one direction or the other. 'hen the switch is opened, the handle occupies the position illustrated in Figure 1. and to close the switch the handle must be swung clockwise through an arc of slightly greater than 180 until the toggle members are in the position shown in Figure 2. If desired, the crank handle may be locked in th'e position shown in Figure 1, and to this end the arm 48 is provided with a lateral projection or lug 50 having at its end a flange 51 closely adjacent the lug 18. The flange 51 is provided with an aperture 52 close to an aperture 53 in said lug so that the seal or padlock 20 may have its hasp passed through said apertures so as to lock the handle to the lug 18. In this case. the single seal or padlock securely locks together the body of the case. the coy'er and the switch-operating handle. Ordinarily. however. the seal or padlock will be engaged only with the lug 18 as shown in F i'gures? and 8. so that the switch handle may be operated.

tute barriers or division-walls, are secured tothe block38, and they project towards the cover of the box, so that their outer edges are so close thereto that a wire or an instrument cannot be passed between thecover and the said barriers. The barriers occupy positions between the. side edges of the block 38 and the pairs of stationary contacts, as shown in Figures 1 and at. The fiat knife members of the movable switch element project through apertures in the barriers 152. The relation of the opening 21 in the cover to the movable slide is such that, when the slide occupies the position shown in Figure 1, it is vimmed ately in the rear of the opening so that the ,fuses are exposed and may be easily ina spected or replaced, and, when the slide is in this position, the door is capable of being opened to permit .such inspection and replacement. Interlocking mechanism, however, is provided, to prevent the door from being opened except when the switch is in its open position, and to prevent the switch from beingclosed while the door is opened.

Thisinterlocking mechanism consists of two 1 simple elements, one of which is located upon the door-itself and the other ofwhich is formed on or connected to the oscillatory shaft or member45. It may be remarked incidentally that the shaft 45 is journaled at one end in the plate 26 and at its other end in an arm 60 projecting laterally from an upright 61 attached to the flange 36 of the plate 26.. The door is provided with a lateral extension, illustrated in dottedlines in Figure 5 and indicated at 62. The door extends below the opening 21 and itslower laterally-extended portion is provided with-a; forwardly extending flange 63, see Figures 3 and 4. This flange constitutes one element of the'interlocking mechanism. The other element consists of a disk 64 formed on or secured to the shaft 45. The'disk is closely adjacent the flange, as shown in Figures 3 and 1, and is formed with a plane face on its periphery, which, when the switch is, opened and the parts occupy the relative positions shown in Figure 1, isparallel with the flange 63. The'flange 63, however, is interruptedso as to provide a recess 66, see Figure 4, of adequate length to permit the curvilinearportion-of the disk to move thereinto when the recess registers with the disk as shown in Figure 4. When the disk moves into the rethe plane face 65 of the disk and preventsthe rotation of the disk.- Consequently the oscillatory member or shaft is locked against movement to prevent the closing of the switch when the door is opened. When the door is moved to the left to close the opening in the cover, the recess registers with the disk 64 so that thehandle'48 may then be oscillated to return the switch to its closed. position. The curvilinear portion of the disk during this operation moves into the recess 66 in theflange and lies in the path thereof so as to prevent the door from beingopened at all times when the switch is closed or partially closed. The switch is'actually held-locked 'inits closed position when the door is closed for the reason that vthe members of the toggle-occupy a substantially dead-center position, as illustrated in Figure 2, but this does not prevent the operation of the toggle by the manual actuation of the ,operating handle to open the switch. On the otherh'and, when the switchis in open position as in Figure 1, it is held locked'in that position'by the toggle members which are in practically dead-center position, and the toggle members themselves are locked against movement .by theengagement of the face of the flange 63 with the plane face of the disk.

Assuming that the switch is closed, and

clockwise from. the position shown in Figure '7 to the position shown in Figure 5. This has the effect-of partially rotating the disk so that the flat face thereof is parallel with the flange 63 of the door, and also has the effect of moving the switch to the open position as illustrated in Figure 1. The door may now be opened by moving it to the right in Figure 7. As soon as the door has been moved partially to the right, the flange'63 slides across the flat face of the disk and holds the latter against rotation so that the switch is securely locked in open position with its terminals or .movable switch members dead. When the door is opened,

and 36 are impossible of access because of the barriers 152 which lie between the side walls of the opening in the cover and such terminals. With the door open, the inspector may now examine the fuses and replace them. In order that the switch may be closed, it is first necessary to move the door from its right-hand position to the lefthand posit-ion shown in Figure 5, so as to bring the recess 66 into registration with the disk, whereupon the operating handle 48 may be swung clockwise from the position shown in Figure 5 to the position shbwn in Figure 7. When the door occupies the position shown in Figure 7, anyone, if he so desires, may open the switch. If theinspector desires to prevent a customer from using the circuit, he may, after opening the switch, lock or seal the handle48 in its open position by engaging the seal or look with the member 50 and the lug 18.

In the construction which is herein illustrated, the slide, with. the terminals thereon, constitutes a movable switch member, and also a 'fuse carrier.

Of course it, will be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction which I have illustrated and herein described, and that various changes may be made in the structure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a. way of making and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, what I claim is:

1. A closed metallic case having a slidable door, stationary line. contacts in the case, a carrier in the case having movable contacts for engaging and disengaging the line contacts, a rock shaft, operative connections between said shaft and said carrier, a cam on said shaft, and an associated member on said door, whereby the door is locked shut when the carrier is in closed position, and

the carrier is locked in open position when the dooris o n.

2. A closed metallic case having a slidabledoor, stationary line contacts in the case, acarrier in the case having movable contacts for engaging and disengaging the line contacts, a rock shaft, a toggle connecting said shaft and said carrier and arranged to automatically lock the carrier in open and closed positions respectively, a cam on said rock shaft, and an associated member on the door by which the carrier is locked in open position when the door is open.

3. A closed case having an opening, a slidable door associated Wlth" said opening, a

an oscillatory shaft movable switch member, supported in the case independently of the door for actuating said member, powertransmitting means between said shaft and said switch member for moving the latter'to open and closed positions, and interlocking devices on said door and said shaft respectively whereby one may prevent the operation of the other.

4. A closed case having an opening, a slidable door associated with said opening, a movable switch member, an oscillatory shaft supported independentlyof the door for actuating said member, power-transmitting means between said shaft and said switch member to move the latter to open and closed positions, and interlocking mechanism comprising a flange on the door and a cam on and rotatable with said shaft.

5. A case, parallel guides supported by one of the walls of the case, a slidable fuse carrier guided by said guides, an oscillatory shaft supported within the case, a crank handle connected to said shaft and projecting through the front wall of the case, a toggle connecting said shaft and said fuse carrier and arranged when in dead center posit-ions to lock said carrier at its extremes of movement, an operating rock shaft connected to said toggle, and interlocking members on said shaft and said door.

6. A case, and mechanism removable as a unit therefrom and comprising a removable base plate, a slidable fuse carrier thereon, fuses and terminals. or movable contacts'on the carrier, stationary contacts supported by said plate, and a rock shaft supported by said plate and connected to the fuse carrier to actuate it.

7. A closed case havin an opening, a door normally closing said opening, a slidable fuse carrier in the case, a rock shaft, operative connections between said shaft and said carrier, a cam on said shaft having a flat peripheral face, a flange on said door adjacent said cam and having a recess to receive the curvilinear periphery of said cam when the door is closed and the fuse carrier is in active position.

8. A case provided with an opening in its front wall, and a door associated with the opening, stationary contacts located within the case, a movable slide in the case accessible through the door opening and carrying fuse terminals for engagement with and disengagement from said stationary contacts, parallel barriers located between the stationary contacts and-the door by which access to said stationary contacts is prevented when the door is opened, a rock shaft journaled in the case and projecting through the front wall thereof, slide-operating devices actuated by said shaft, a, cam on said shaft, and a flange 'on said door, wherebv the door is locked when the slide is in closed position.

9. A switch mechanism comprising a case having a front wall with an opening therein, a door normally closing said opening, a

fuse carrier in the case having movable consaid door, said members preventing the door 10 tacts and a fuse which is accessible through from being opened when the carrier is in said opening but is normally concealed by closed position and preventing the carrier said door, stationary contacts inaccessible from being moved to closed position when 5 through said opening and adapted to be enthe door is'open.

gagedby the movable contacts, a rock-shaft, In testimony whereof I have afiixed my 15 a toggle connection between said shaft and signature. .said carrier, a rotary locking member on 7 said shaft, and an associated member on v JOHN A JESSEN. 

